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Why do they buy what they buy?
Chelsea Kyle. Food Stying by Drew Aichele. Prop Styling by Campbell Pearson.
How much do they spend?
Who are they shopping for?
Initially, Thelma tried to manage her condition through medications.
Chelsea Kyle. Food Stying by Drew Aichele. Prop Styling by Campbell Pearson.
Her doctor said yesas long as she changed her dietthen recommended that she eat lessfatandsodium.
Until that point Thelma mostly ate fast food, she says.
It was like a wake-up call.
The best I would do before was make a sandwich or deep-fry something, she tells SELF.
So in 2020, Thelma started cooking to control the amount of sodium and fat in her food.
Given that high blood pressure is such a serious condition, Thelma wanted to get hers under control.
So she had to change the way she prepared some of her favorites based on her doctors dietary recommendations.
For instance, she now cooks collard greens in broth instead of boiling them with ham hocks.
Throughout her journey, Thelma has discovered somenew favorite foodstoo.
I didnt know there were several types of paprika.
I love smoky paprikaI just never knew, she says.
Also, Thelmas family didn’t typically eat fresh fish, but now she eats it fairly often.
The closest [thing to fresh] fish I had was the tuna in the can.
I like red snapper.
Thelma says there are plenty of grocery stores where she lives in Kenosha.
She shops at four different stores because they can vary in price and carry different brands.
Here are 10 items she picks up in a typical grocery trip.
I love this baked, says Thelma.
I eat this weekly, she says.
This has saved me many nights from going to McDonalds, she says.
Thelma really loves deep-fried food, so she nowuses an air fryerto make foods crispy instead of conventional frying.
(Air fryers mainly use really hot air instead of the usual amount of oil to fry foods.)
She particularly loves air-fried shrimp seasoned with garlic and lemon.
Theyre just perfect, she says.
I use this for almost everything, says Thelma.
She also uses this to make homemade ramen or quick soups that include rotisserie chicken and frozen vegetables.
Im not missing that umami taste, she says.
Oh, it is delicious, Thelma says of this product.
Growing up, I didnt know about spinach.
I didnt know there was a thing called Swiss chard.
I went to a restaurant and it was in a meal.
The chard was sauteed in lemon and garlic, and it was delicious.
And I was like, What is this?
Now she regularlyeats this blendsauteed in garlic and lemon juice.
Who knew I could cook?
I have to start my day off with this, she says.
I barely reach for butter now, she says.
However, many packaged ramens are higher in sodium than Thelma prefers to eat.
She found these packages of ramen noodles and now makes her own lower-sodium version using that trusty chicken broth.
Thelma is big on this brand of basmati rice, which she purchased impulsively.
It was on one of the sale racks, and I thought, Lets try that.
Sometimes Thelma adds theseeggsto her ramen.
Other times she eats hard-boiled eggs as a snack with fruit or cheese.
It holds me until I can really sit down and eat, she says.
you’re able to cook, girl, she tells herself.
you’re free to do this.
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